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Apple Announces 40 Billion App Store Downloads, Nearly 20 Billion in 2012

Monday January 7, 2013 4:42 am PST by Eric Slivka

Apple today announced that the App Store has reached another milestone, passing 40 billion downloads since its launch in 2008. The pace of downloads continues to accelerate, with nearly half of those downloads coming in 2012.

Apple now has 500 million user accounts for the App Store, and set a record with over two billion downloads during the month of December.

“It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world.”

Apple notes that there are now over 775,000 apps available in the App Store and highlights the success of a number of developers including Temple Run's Imangi Studios, Autodesk, and others.

In 2012, the husband and wife team at Imangi Studios saw their game Temple Run downloaded more than 75 million times; Backflip Studios and Supercell, two emerging game development studios, brought in over $100 million combined for their leading freemium titles DragonVale and Clash of Clans; and emerging services including Uber, Flipboard, HotelTonight, and AirBnB attracted millions of users on iOS. Companies including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Autodesk, Marvel and Major League Baseball continued to expand their iOS offerings, while developers like JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Interactive and Bottle Rocket Apps continued to push the boundaries of what iOS apps can do.

Top Rated Comments

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FSMBP

87 months ago

I don't get why they brag so much about 775,000 apps. It's getting harder and harder to find decent ones.

Rating: 14 Votes

sammich

87 months ago

I want to see what kind of bandwidth Apple is responsible for globally.

Rating: 8 Votes

KdParker

87 months ago

Wonder how this compares to the other 'app' stores for android and Windows(not really windows :) ).

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I don't get why they brag so much about 775,000 apps. It's getting harder and harder to find decent ones.

sure....but i am able to find some usefull ones every now and then.

Rating: 8 Votes

Richardgm

87 months ago

I'd like to know how many unique downloads from that. Like the first time an app is downloaded for an account.

Because I'm pretty certain that they count re-downloads, like when all the apps downloaded again when you migrate to a new device. I know I had quite a few downloads going when I moved from my 3GS to my iPhone 5 after setting up from my backup.

Still would be in the tens of billions, though.

In the statement, it said:

*40 billion unique downloads excluding re-downloads and updates.

Source (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/01/07App-Store-Tops-40-Billion-Downloads-with-Almost-Half-in-2012.html)

Rating: 8 Votes

hybroid

87 months ago

This is great but App discovery and the store need a LOT of work. Great if you know exactly what you're looking for. Rubbish otherwise. How many hidden gems are yet to be uncovered or ever will be?

Rating: 7 Votes

LagunaSol

87 months ago

The thing is that the SmartPhone market will eventually be replaced with something else like wearable computers like the Google Glass thing.

Yes, I can't wait until we are all fed Google ads 24x7 through our eyewear. Or better yet, implanted lenses. I dream of living in a Minority Report ad-saturated world.

Also the competition is catching up and surpassing Apple's growth in the SmartPhone arena.

It helps when your competition (Google) gives its stuff away for free.

Rating: 7 Votes